Emotional Intelligence Approach to Dealing with Volatile Managers

The first step in dealing with volatile managers is correctly assessing that the problem is irritability and not bullying or being frantic. The prescription for dealing with volatile managers is very different from the prescription for dealing with sadistic bullies or ruthless managers. In fact, tactics that will calm a volatile manager are likely to provoke a bully.

The second issue is to assess whether the person has a serious personality disorder and is therefore at risk for engaging in violence if his or her Achilles’ heel is threatened. There is a great difference between the brief annoyed (but unfair) statements, or even the yelling, of a stressed manager and the potential violence of a narcissistic or borderline manager who feels threatened. It is important to know how bad things can get, as well as when such managers are likely to be angry. In addition, change is often very possible in a relatively brief period of time for an irritable manager who is having a hard time dealing with stress. A volatile manager with a narcissistic, antisocial, or borderline personality disorder usually needs years of therapy to make sustained, significant improvement.